GSM variant of the HTC EVO 3D announced in the UK, lends credibility to Australian launch rumours

A few days ago we reported on a rumour from a very trusted source that the HTC EVO 3D was making the rounds at Telstra. Before then we didn’t really have any official word on a GSM version of this exclusively CDMA device, well that has all changed. Today HTC officially announced the EVO 3D (code-named HTC Shooter) is coming to the UK next month, which means it is a GSM device and seeing as we’re a country that also runs GSM networks the rumour now makes perfect sense. Hit the break to read my thoughts on the EVO 3D coming to Australia.

It’s questionable as to whether or not Telstra will launch the EVO 3D on their network. For one they are one of the few carriers in the world that use 850MHz on their HSPA+ network, so HTC would have specially made another variant of the Sensation to suit this frequency and now expect all the carriers who sell the device to make it worth their while. If they don’t, I doubt HTC will specially make an 850MHz version of the EVO 3D. I could be wrong here, but I’m just tossing around ideas. Secondly, Telstra now have the powerhouse that is the Sensation on their network and adding the EVO 3D that has pretty much identical specs –besides the 3D camera– could take away from the polish and shine of the Sensation, which they need to sell well.

To add to this swelling rumour is that we’ve heard Telstra isn’t the only carrier playing around with the EVO 3D. This makes even more sense (pun?) than the Telstra rumour as all other carriers here support 900/2100MHz HSPA, so they can sell the EVO 3D as-is without needing a special variant from HTC and it would leverage them against Telstra in the dual-core phone wars. Either way, Android is leading the dual-core phone wars for now and the EVO 3D would be a lovely addition to the Android phone market; at least until another iDevice is launched later in the year.

I’d love to hear what you guys think of the HTC EVO 3D coming to Australia. Do you think it’s worth it? Is 3D too much of a gimmick? Will the Sensation take away from its glory? Let us know in the comments.

first 😀 trololoollllollolol I think the 3D is a gimmick but who knows in the future… but for now… Wonder how good the camera is as non-3D? Any ideas? I mean, it is only 5MP per camera but being 3D it may have better lenses etc than the sensation… I reckon this will be possibly Voda. thats my guess. Optus have the incredible S and the SGSII. Voda have the SGSII and the….. X10? 😛 Telstra already have the sensation- why would they want the same thing but with 3D camera? Mind you, with the specs being so similar to… Read more »

Telstra might conceivably want to be able to offer 2D and 3D versions of basically the same phone, using the 3D as an up-sell opportunity. Or maybe not.

The review of the CDMA version over on Mobileburn isn’t very encouraging. They say the 2D camera performance is lousy and the 3D is a gimmick. The only bright side I can see is the physical camera shutter key.